The last ruler of the Ptolemaic dynasty was the one and only Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt.
The image of Cleopatra that has reached us is largely shaped by the propaganda of Octavian, who ruled Rome from 31 BCE to 14 CE. Threatened by her political alliance with Mark Antony – and unwilling to accept the authority of a successful female ruler – he recast her as a woman of excess, seduction and moral danger.
Yet Cleopatra was multilingual, politically astute and strategically brilliant. She personally directed Egypt’s diplomacy and spoke nine languages. In Alexandria – home to the greatest library of the ancient world and a centre of scholarship – she engaged in fierce philosophical debates with leading intellectuals. She was not a decorative presence, but a formidable adversary in conversations with some of the most learned scholars of her time.
History – written largely by her Roman enemies – preferred to remember her as a seductress rather than a sovereign. Thanks to contemporary women scholars, her story is being rewritten. What emerges is a many-layered, fiercely intelligent and powerful woman who continues to inspire.
The Last Ptolemaic Queen
The last ruler of the Ptolemaic dynasty was the one and only Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt. The image of Cleopatra that has reached us is largely shaped by the propaganda of Octavian, who ruled Rome from 31 BCE to 14 CE. Threatened by her political alliance with Mark Antony – and unwilling to accept the…
